


Falling in Love for a Second Time

by Aloneindarknes7



Category: Wander Over Yonder
Genre: Amnesia, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Character Development, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Engagement, Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Head Injury, Implied Relationships, Injury Recovery, Interspecies Relationship(s), Kissing, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Near Death Experiences, Post Dominator arch, Romantic Fluff, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 06:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7033828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aloneindarknes7/pseuds/Aloneindarknes7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hater has amnesia. Set after season two in a magical and wonderful universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling in Love for a Second Time

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to update my other fic and then this idea hit me hard. I decided to go with it because I wanted to post something before tonight's new episode. I mention some things that have happened in past episodes, I've made up some things I think might happen, and then I made up a lot of things I don't think will happen but want to happen anyways. I didn't get a chance to edit it before uploading because, like I said, I wanted to upload it before the new episode. So any mistakes you see, please point out to me so I can fix them. Enjoy!

He didn’t know how to swim but he remembered how it felt being underwater. It felt like being weightless and seeing the world move around in a distorted, unfocused light. It was how he currently felt. He could hear people talking but none of it made sense yet. It kept coming in and out of his awareness.

“—be okay, won’t he?”

“Well, he’s taken harder hits before.”

“But this one was straight to his head!”

He knew the voices. They sounded familiar. He thought he could even place the names to the voices, but he couldn’t get his eyes to cooperate and open yet. In fact, most of his body was ignoring him. His head wasn’t getting the signals out to move properly. His head felt like it wasn’t even there.

“When will he wake up?”

“You heard what the doctor said, he’ll need lots of rest.”

“I think he’s waking up now. Hater, honey, can you hear us, Hatey?”

He groaned and managed to get on eye to blink open briefly before closing again. He saw an orange face against a very white room. 

The voices were all close to him now and chattering at once. It was making his head throb.

“Shut up,” he moaned and brought a hand up to cup at his head. It felt like his head was going to split in two. 

He felt bandages wrapped around his head. Huh. Maybe his head really was split.

“Sir,” the voice was a hesitant whisper, “you shouldn’t touch your injury.”

“Hurts,” he replied sluggishly. He was irritated that he was starting to lose control of his voice. He had just gotten the hang of talking again.

A warm, fuzzy hand was gently pushing his hand away from his head. “You need your rest, Hater, go back to sleep if you can.”

He grunted at feeling something fuzzy brush against his face. Then he let himself sink back underwater.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He woke up to silence the second time. He finally got ahold of his thoughts and was able to piece some things together. His head still hurt and so did the rest of his body, but the main pain was all in his head. 

His eyes opened and closed a few times before he could get his eyes to stay open. The room was brightly white and he recognized it as his ship’s medical bay. The cot he was on confirmed his thoughts that he had been injured enough to require medical care. He flexed his fingers in his yellow gloves and then wiggled his toes under the sheets. He still had fine motor control so he hadn’t been injured too severely.

The only one in the room was his commander. Peepers was sitting in a chair beside him but all his attention was currently on a tablet he was rapidly taping at. His commander seemed to sense his stare as Peepers looked up at that moment and met his gaze.

Peepers’ reaction was immediate.

He stood and pulled himself onto the side of Hater’s bed. “Lord Hater, you’re awake! Oh thank grop, we were all so worried, sir, it’s been three days!” Peepers carefully but excitedly wrapped his arms around Hater’s throat.

Hater narrowed his eyes as he took in the information. He must have been in some sort of huge battle to be knocked out for three days. 

“Peepers, you’re hugging me,” Hater murmured in a low, threatening tone.

“So-sorry, sir.” Peepers released Hater and dropped to stand next to Hater’s bedside. “It’s just, like I said; you were mostly unconscious for three days. You’d groan and move around but this is the first time you’ve been able to keep your eyes open and speak coherently too! Wander’s going to be so happy to see you’re okay.”

“Wander?” Hater looked around the room expecting the little orange nuisance to pop out from under some cot and start singing about friendship. 

“Sylvia and I were finally able to convince him to go get a shower and some sleep a few hours ago. I’ll go wake him up though and let them both know that you’re awake. Unless you think you want to go back to sleep?” Peepers asked.

“What I want, Peepers, is to know why the flarp Wander is walking around freely on my ship with the Zbornak?” Hater glared. He wanted to summon some lightning but he knew he was too exhausted still to muster any real anger.

Peepers frowned in the way that a giant eyeball could. “Um, sir, what’s the last thing you remember?” 

Hater hummed and closed his eyes for a moment as he thought about the question. “We just got back from a stealth mission on Dominator’s ship. She’s not dating Awesome and she totally knows my name!” Hater broke into a wide grin.

“Oh boy,” Peepers glanced around the room as though looking for help. Unfortunately for him, no one was around. “Maybe I should go get one of the doctors to tell you,” he murmured.

“Tell me what? Peepers, just spit it out already! What happened that I’m here? Who attacked me? It wasn’t Awesome, was it?” Hater wouldn’t think twice about that loser attacking them when he had his back turned. He could only have gotten the upper hand on him if he attacked in a dishonest way.

“Alright, well, let’s see where to start. There’s a lot to go over, apparently. You were attacked, sir, but it wasn’t Emperor Awesome. In fact, the attack wasn’t even really meant for you. We were helping out on the restoration plan and Empress Disaster’s forces attacked. She was aiming for Wander like she always does and you pushed him out of the way to get hit yourself. Her missiles had no effect, of course, but then her steel Nine Tails all struck you direct on the head. Your skull cracked and then you were out. You should have seen how pissed Sylvia got. If you hadn’t pushed Wander out of the way, he probably would have been killed. We were really worried that you had been but the doctor reassured us that your skull will heal with the artificial piece they attached.” Peepers rubbed at his arms nervously as he watched Hater throughout his explanation.

Hater licked his lips and opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. He closed his mouth, swallowed, and tried again. “What?”

“We were unprepared for a surprise attack. You took a lot of very hard hits to the head. You will recover physically but you apparently have amnesia. The doctor did warn us that you might not remember everything but I had assumed you wouldn’t remember the events, I didn’t think you’d forget the last few years.” Peepers tried to clarify. 

“Years,” Hater repeated slowly.

“Yes, sir, it’s been years since your silly crush on Dominator. In fact, it’s been years since anyone has even seen Dominator after she nearly succeeded in destroying the entire galaxy. That’s why Empress Disaster hates Wander so much.” 

“Dominator’s gone? But we were supposed to get married! She was perfect for me, Peepers!” Hater whined. This was all too much to take in. He was apparently missing years of his life in his memory and worst of all; he didn’t seem to have gotten a girlfriend in all that time. “It’s been years and I’m still not ruler of the galaxy?”

“Afraid not, sir, although you do still control a lot of planets, we are no longer in the conquering business.” Peepers began. “We go to planets and offer treaty agreements between the planets already agreeing to be under our rule. We help restore the planet from the damages that Dominator brought on years ago, figure out the fairest policies, and offer protection from the upcoming villains. We show them how to set up a proper army and leave some of our Watchdogs behind to train and offer support.”

“I’m no longer an authoritarian ruler?” Hater felt his eyes widening.

“You’re still a ruler; you’re even more successful than ever before! But you’re connecting planets under your rule and benevolent about the process. We have so many allies now and your army is stronger than ever now just in case we ever need to fight against a force like Dominator ever again.” Peepers almost looked proud while he talked.

“Oh grop, I’m a good guy now.” Hater fought back the urge to cry. He placed his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths to try and control his emotions. This was all way too much to handle at once. 

Hater felt something cold against his face and moved his hands off to stare down at them. His gloves hadn’t changed, but there was a simple ring over one of his left fingers. “Peepers,” he started slowly as he stared at the ring, “am I married too?”

“You’re engaged, sir. A long engagement was your agreement. The wedding hasn’t been planned still and probably won’t be for a while.” Peepers looked at Hater, hesitating. “Do you want me to tell you who you’re engaged to?”

Hater met Peepers gaze and frowned. “Is it the Zbornak?” That would explain why Wander and her were on his ship. 

A blush crossed Peepers’ face as he shook his head. “No, she’s, uh, kinda my girlfriend now. Well, sorta, it’s still new for us.” Peepers chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. 

“Oh, I didn’t even think you were into relationships,” Hater admitted.

“We grew on each other over the years.” Peepers shrugged.

“Then who am I--” Hater stopped himself when the door to the medical bay opened. 

Wander and Sylvia walked through, chatting quietly with one another. They looked almost exactly the same. Sylvia did look a bit older and had a scar running over her left arm, but otherwise she still had the same saddle and her hairstyle hadn’t changed.

Wander still had his ridiculous hat and goofy grin on his face. He wore his socks and simple shoes. But he did have a ring on his hand identical to the one Hater was wearing.

“I’m engaged to Wander,” Hater whispered the realization. “This is a nightmare. Wake me up,” Hater turned to Peepers. “Tell me this is all just a nightmare.” 

“I know it sounds very different to our past, sir, but you’ve never been happier or more successful.” Peepers stressed.

“You’re awake!” Wander noticed from hallway across the room. His smile was so wide and genuine. Wander ran the rest of the way and jumped onto the bed beside Hater, wrapping himself around Hater’s body similar to how Peepers had earlier. 

“Oh, Hatey, I’ve been so worried! This is all my fault; that hit was meant for me! I should be the one here, not you.” Wander looked up at Hater with tears in his eyes before he buried his face against Hater’s chest and squeezed him a bit tighter.

“It’s good to see you awake, Bonehead.” Sylvia stood next to Peepers, close enough that her leg brushed against his body. “But it’s like I keep telling Wander, you can take the big hits. If you hadn’t pushed Wander out of the way, he wouldn’t be in the medical wing, he’d be dust in the wind.” She had her arms crossed tightly. “It was really close for you though.” Her voice was a lot lower.

Wander sniffled and removed his hands from Hater’s body to wipe at his face. “It was like with Dominator all over again.” Wander looked up at Hater and gently cupped his chin. “Thanks for saving my life, Hatey, but I never want you to go through something like that again.” Then Wander was moving in with puckered lips.

Hater knew what was going to happen but he was still too over sensitized with all the new information. Wander kissed him and Hater’s body seemed to know what to do without him needing to control it. His hands came up to cup the back of Wander’s head and hold his body still. His mouth knew how to rub against Wander’s mouth. His eyes closed and he actually enjoyed the sensation of the fuzzy warmth he felt out and in his body.

When he opened his eyes again, Wander was pulling back to sniffle but smile at him.

“Get out.” Hater stated calmly. 

“Wh-what?” Wander’s smile dimmed slightly as though he had just misheard Hater’s words.

“Get out, all of you. I need to be alone.” Hater used his hands on Wander’s body to shift him off of his lap and onto the floor beside Peepers. “I want a glass of water and some food brought in by a Watchdog but otherwise I want to be alone.” 

Wander was frowning now and looking worriedly up at Sylvia. “Hater, what’s--”

“He has amnesia.” Peepers interjected. “He still thinks you’re his enemies and he’s a bad guy.”

“What? But we haven’t fought against you guys for years.” Sylvia argued.

“He doesn’t seem to remember the last few years.” Peepers emphasized.

“None of it?” Wander looked up at Hater with big, wounded eyes. Something in Hater’s chest began to hurt at that look.

“I said leave me alone!” Hater shouted now. “I need to think about all of this!” Wander winced at Hater’s tone and the feeling got worst. Hater could even recognize it now. It was unwanted sympathy, curling and spreading throughout Hater. The feeling was gaining momentum with every moment that Wander looked up at Hater with such a desperate expression.

“Alright, Hater, we’ll give you some space.” Wander nodded to the others as they slowly made their way out.

“I’ll have a Watchdog bring up your favorites.” Wander added with a smile. “And if you need to talk, I’ll be waiting just outside the door.” He assured before they all left him alone in the large, empty medical bay.

Hater gripped the sheets in his hands and laid flat on his back. He stared up at the ceiling and tried to think about one thing at a time. His life was completely flipped from how he had known it. He felt like he had been thrown into the future and he hated time traveling, but he was stuck here because this future was actually his present. 

First, he tried to take a deep breath in and out through his nose. Then he ripped the sheets in his hands. He kept ripping and tearing. It felt good to destroy something. He continued to break the sheets down even as a Watchdog silently left a tray of food and water next to his bedside. 

When he was finished, there were scattered pieces of fabric on his bed and the floor surrounding him. He still didn’t feel much better so he turned to the food. At least his appetite hadn’t changed much over the years since his favorite food was still apparently pizza and tacos. 

He ate everything and then tossed the plates across the room to hear the satisfying smash of ceramic against the wall. When he finished his glass of water, he repeated his previous actions to add broken glass to his path of destruction. 

Standing from his bed, Hater took a few cautious steps. His head still hurt and his body felt sore. He summoned some of his power and was reassured to see the green lightning dance across his fingertips. Then he let loose. 

He struck at anything and everything. He screamed and yelled. Sometimes he shouted obscenities and sometimes it was just wordless anger and confusion. He fried beds. He struck out at mattresses. He melted the bedframes. He wrecked the room until it was almost unrecognizable from when he had woken up.

Then he went through the door. 

Sure enough, Wander was sitting to the right of the door and strumming on his banjo. 

Wander smiled up at him but didn’t instantly start blabbering on about anything. Maybe Wander had changed a little too over the years. 

“Someone should be sent up to clean that up.” Hater motioned behind himself into the destroyed room. 

“I already notified some Watchdogs when I heard your little rampage start. Feeling any better?” Wander asked as he put his banjo back into his hat and stood up.

“I’m a little tired,” Hater admitted, looking away from Wander. He couldn’t take the expectation in Wander’s eyes.

“You want to go lay down in your bedroom?” Wander suggested.

“Don’t you mean our bedroom or something?” Hater grumbled.

“Well, it’s always been yours. I’ve never needed a room. And I can just use one of the spare rooms with Sylvia until you feel better.” Wander reassured. “You’re going to still need a lot of rest so it’s probably for the best that you get the bed to yourself anyways.”

“But I already got enough rest. I slept for like three days apparently.” Hater frowned.

“Yeah, but, Hater, you don’t seem to understand how bad your injuries were. The fact that you’re up and moving now is amazing because I thought—it was really terrible, Hater,” Wander’s voice grew soft and Hater looked at him then. He’d never heard Wander’s voice sound anything other than boisterous and happy.

Wander looked on the edge of tears again. “Please don’t cry. I have enough to deal with right now and I don’t need to add you crying to my list.” Hater crossed his arms over his chest.

“Sorry, you’re right, ‘m fine.” Wander rubbed at his eyes. “I’ve just never seen you so badly injured before. You normally bounce back from everything pretty well. To see someone like you struck down like that and knowing that it was meant to be me, gosh, Hater, it just makes me feel so lucky that someone as amazing as you are is in my life and looking out for me, even if you don’t currently feel the same way.” Wander was hugging him again. 

Hater gave him a moment and then gently pushed him away. “Yeah, listen, this is really weird for me because I kinda want to destroy you, but Peepers told me that we’re engaged.”

Wander chuckled and twisted the ring on his finger with a fond smile. “Yeah, we finally agreed on a long engagement.” 

“How did this even happen?” Hater asked.

Wander grinned. “Oh, well, it was seventh time you asked me to marry you but still just as heart-filed and sweet as the times before. We were on this little planet with a picnic basket and--”

“No, no, I meant how did we even start dating, not the engagement thing.” Hater corrected. “Wait a minute; you rejected me six times before you agreed to marry me?” Hater growled.

“I don’t really count the first three proposals. Those were more of a ‘heat of the moment’ kind of thing rather than you really meaning anything behind them.” Wander dismissed with a wave of his hand. “But our first date was to a beach because you let me pick where since you asked and I thought we could use a day of fun in the sun after the big battle and everything.”

“But when did I stop thinking of you as an enemy and start thinking of you as dating terms?” Hater asked with a frown on his face.

“Hm, I’m not really sure about when you started treating me differently. I mean, it kinda happened subtly. There were lots of times that we did things together and had fun, then you would chase me around with your powers yelling right after.” Wander giggled. “I think it might have been sometime when I was teaching you to dance and sing to try and win Dominator’s heart that you might have started seeing me differently? I can’t say for sure though because I never asked before.” Wander shrugged.

“Well that doesn’t help me. That just makes me have even more questions.” Hater growled.

“I’ll try to answer any of them if I can.” Wander offered.

“Nah, I’m gonna head to my room now. Maybe I will take another nap or something.” Hater decided.

“Okay,” Wander followed beside Hater. He was quiet but it still bothered Hater that he decided to tag along.

“I thought you said you’ll sleep with Sylvia.” Hater reminded.

“I just wanted to walk you to your room. There isn’t too much that’s changed on your ship, but we’re not all sure what you do remember and what you don’t.” Wander explained. As they headed towards Hater’s quarters, many Watchdogs passed by them. They were waving and smiling at Hater and Wander. Wander, of course, smiled back and even said a few hellos.

“This is where I’ll be.” Wander stopped at one point to pat a door to one of the many rooms that normally housed higher ranking Watchdog soldiers. It was right next to Peepers’ room and pretty close to the hallway leading towards Hater’s room. “Just in case you need me for anything,” Wander explained.

Hater nodded but kept walking. His room still had numerous doors to block the path and stop intruders, but Wander kept with him. When he finally got to the last door, Hater was pleased to see his room’s décor hadn’t changed. There was still his large television, his skull lamps, Captain Tim’s small bed tucked into the corner of the room, his large speakers, and everything else was much the same.

“Am I going to find your stuff in any of my drawers?” Hater asked Wander.

Wander shook his head. “No, everything I own pretty much stays in my hat.” He tapped his hat affectionately. “Oh, but there are a few dresses in your closet just because I don’t want them to get wrinkled.” 

“Okay,” Hater glanced at his closet door. “Anything else?”

“I did reorganize your sock drawer but everything is still all your stuff. Peepers is still connected on your phone but you also have Sylvia’s number on speed dial too so call her if you want to get ahold of me.” Wander looked up at Hater expectantly. 

“Alright, cool, bye.” Hater looked pointedly at his door.

“Right, goodbye.” Wander waved with false cheer and then closed Hater’s door behind him. 

It took Hater a moment to realize that Wander was probably waiting for a kiss goodbye. He didn’t know what to do with that information. 

Trying to put all of his confusing thoughts out of his mind, Hater went to his bathroom. He looked in the mirror as he took off the bandages wrapped around his head. There was a small spot on his skull that was an off-white color from the rest of his skull. He figured it must be the replacement piece for when his skull had cracked. 

He stripped down and went for his shower, ignoring the second, smaller towel that was hanging on the rack. “Gross,” he grumbled at the small amount of orange hair sticking to his drain as he turned the shower on. He waited until the water washed the hair away then stepped under the stream.

Upon further exploration, Hater learned that one of his feet was now a robotic replacement and decided that was a question for Peepers later. He might have to make a list of his questions. But that would involve writing and really thinking about what was going on. Deciding that sounded too hard, Hater finished his shower, changed into fresh clothes, ignored the small dresses in his closet, and sat on his bed to play video games. 

He was very excited to find all the new games. He was thrilled to see which of his favorite games had gotten sequels and spinoffs. Considering how terrible losing his memory had been, Hater was glad that something was finally good about this amnesia thing as he spent the afternoon playing games for what seemed like the first time.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was only when his stomach grumbled and Hater had called Peepers to order food be brought up to him that Hater even remembered that he had amnesia. 

“What is this?” Hater pointed to the tiny pills on his tray.

“The doctor wanted you to take them to ensure that your injury doesn’t get infected. Also, for any pain that you might still be feeling. He can also give you something to help you sleep tonight if you need it.” Peepers informed.

“Oh, right.” Hater put down his controller and looked at Peepers. “Did I ever tell you when I wanted to stop destroying Wander and date him instead?”

“To be honest, sir, it seemed for a while like you wanted to do both. I think it was sometime after the last battle with Dominator or maybe even during that. Now that I think back to it, you did spend a lot of time protecting Wander during that fight.” Peepers cupped his chin. “But you had started to spend more time with Wander before that and not always trying to destroy him during those times. Like you captured him to make him plan how to ask Dominator out, which blew up in your face. Then there was the time you were trying to impress Dominator with a huge rock concert and Wander replaced one of the Watchdogs on stage. That was also a huge mess that--” 

“I remember that.” Hater cut Peepers off. “I remember that Wander was pretty good on stage. But I still liked Dominator at that time. When did I stop liking her and start liking him?”

“I couldn’t tell you when you started liking him, but I know you stopped liking her when you and Wander went onto her ship with a big musical number planned out. I think she broke your heart that day, sir, but Wander was there to pick up the pieces.” Peepers shrugged his shoulders. “I know it seems hard to understand, but it was a very smooth transition from you hating him to loving him. He had always been around and then it just started to seem like you enjoyed having him around.” 

“Huh,” Hater stretched out and then looked down at his foot. “I remember getting a new robotic arm, but when did I lose my foot?”

“That was because Daddy Tim ate it.” He was going to have to learn to stop clenching his hands when he heard that voice, he decided wearily when Wander appeared in the doorway. “Hi,” Wander grinned at Hater.

“Hey,” Hater replied back. “So who’s Daddy Tim?”

“Captain Tim’s dad, at least, that’s what I saw him as.” Wander explained. “I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner and I could answer some questions but I see you’re already eating and talking with C Peeps.” Wander winked at Peepers.

“You don’t have to leave,” Hater offered. “I kinda want to hear the story about how I lost my foot. That seems like something I should probably know and can understand pretty easily, right?” He looked to Peepers who nodded encouragingly.

“Well, if you don’t mind my company.” Wander smiled and moved to sit next to Hater as he began to tell the story. Hater ate while he listened and didn’t notice when Peepers left them alone. 

Wander was a very good story teller. He explained things well and held Hater’s attention. Hater didn’t even mind Wander eating his fries off of his plate or sharing his smoothie. It wasn’t until Wander yawned for the sixth time that Hater glanced at the clock and realized that it was past midnight, ship time. 

“It’s pretty late,” Hater pointed out.

“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you up. You need your rest still. I just liked talking about old times with you.” Wander smiled and squeezed Hater’s hand. Hater didn’t remember when Wander had started holding his hand. “I hope that cleared up some questions you have going on in your head right now.”

“Some of them,” Hater answered. Not any of the big questions still, but he supposed those would come with time. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to your rest. Goodnight, Hatey.” Wander leaned up and then stopped himself at the last moment before he kissed Hater. “Whoops, sorry, old habit.” 

“It’s okay,” Hater’s face heated, “I don’t mind if you want a kiss goodnight.” Wander had been moving off of the bed but stopped to turn and look back at Hater. “I mean, we’re engaged now and even when you were my enemy you still hugged and kissed me and stuff.” 

Wander grinned and moved back towards the center of the bed towards Hater. He stood up to be at even height to Hater’s face and leaned in to press a kiss to Hater’s cheek. “Goodnight, Hater.”

“I said I don’t mind if you want to kiss me goodnight. Are you saying that we just kiss on the cheek goodnight?” Hater challenged with his face still glowing green.

“Normally our goodnight kisses don’t just stop at a small kiss, if you get what I mean. Boink, boink,” Wander waggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

“So we have sex a lot?” Hater’s eyes widened slightly. He couldn’t believe he forgot losing his virginity. 

“No, no, no,” Wander was waving his hands frantically in front of himself. “Hater, you’re asexual, but I guess you never figured that out until after we started dating.” Wander murmured the last part almost to himself. “I just meant that we get very cuddly and our hands roam a lot.” Wander giggled.

“Wait, what do you mean I’m asexual? I’ve always wanted to have sex though!” Hater argued.

“You like the idea of sex and you’re not sex repulsed, but it just doesn’t really do much for you.” Wander shrugged. “You just don’t feel the need for it and you’d rather just kiss than do anything below the belt. It’s not something you should think too hard about, Hater.”

“So we have had sex?” Hater asked for clarification.

“At the beginning we did, yeah, because you didn’t realize that you didn’t like sex. We kept trying new things to try and find something you liked and ended up realizing that you just like making out and touching most of all so we tend to stick with that most nights.” Wander was rubbing his hands up and down Hater’s arms. 

“Oh.” Hater did like how soft Wander’s hands felt on his arms. He also liked the real goodnight kiss when Wander leaned forward to murmur “Goodnight” against his lips.

He liked it enough to want more but Wander pulled away before Hater could get his arms on him. Then he was alone with his thoughts again. The nightmare seemed suddenly all too real when it hit Hater just how empty his bedroom felt without Wander’s strange presence in it. 

It took several hours of tossing and turning to finally fall into an uneasy sleep.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When Hater woke up he was upset with himself for still not remembering everything. He had hoped that he would just wake up with all of his memories again. He said as much to Wander, Peepers, and Sylvia when they knocked on his door for breakfast. He had yelled at them first for waking him, but he figured if he stayed up it would mean an easier sleep that night at least.

Hater felt guilty that he didn’t remember. It wasn’t the lack of memory that made him feel so terrible. It was how weird things seemed with Wander. Wander would just continue to smile at him with no outwardly change, but Hater could tell that his lack of remembering was hurting Wander.

His life started to turn into a sort of numbing, bewildering routine. 

He’d wake up angry at being woken up and not remembering anything. He’d eat breakfast and try not to cringe at Peepers and Sylvia as they flirted with one another. The doctor would check him over to ensure that he was physically healthy and inform them that there was nothing to be done about the amnesia. 

He’d normally take his anger out in the gym and even sparred with Sylvia with Wander cheering on the side. Even though his mind didn’t seem to have the memory, his body did. He had apparently picked up a lot of new battle moves while training with the Zbornak. 

Then they’d have lunch and Peepers would bring up some past events to try and jog Hater’s memory. It didn’t work but it made the others all talk happily about some past adventure which made Hater feel left out even though he had been involved.

He’d return to his room with Wander because Wander had become his shadow. He was always following Hater everywhere, just in the corner of Hater’s perception. It seemed impossible for Wander to leave him alone. He seemed to be in a state of constant there but Hater understood because he liked the alone time with Wander best of all.

They ate dinner on Hater’s bed. Wander would talk about something they’ve done together or spend the night answering Hater’s questions about every little detail of their relationship. Sometimes Wander would put in a movie that Hater liked and watch that with him in hopes of him remembering some scene or something. 

But he always left Hater each night after a brief but intimate kiss.

Hater could never fall asleep easily. He took to roaming the halls at night. When he walked around the quiet Skullship, he tried to remember things. He remembered a lot, but nothing from the recent years that had become lost to him.

It was on one of these wanderings, that Hater stumbled across hushed voices and a secret conversation. He knew who it was talking since he was standing outside of Peeper’s bedroom door.

“—not coming back, no matter how long we stay here. It’s affecting the restoration plan.” Sylvia’s voice was urgent.

“We don’t know that for sure yet. He certainly isn’t acting like evil Lord Hater from the past so it’s not hopeless. It’s not like they have to start over from the beginning. Hater obviously likes Wander and he might start remembering something soon. He just needs to be surrounded by familiar things to help jolt his memory back.” Peepers argued.

“Look, I’m not saying that Wander should give up on Hater. There is some sort of spark between them but Wander might as well just start over with dating Hater. He’s not the same and he’s never going to be. Whatever part was smashed in his head was the life Hater had made for himself these past few years with us. We can tell him stories as much as we want but that’s all they’re going to be to him; stories!” Sylvia’s firm voice echoed in the room for a moment.

“So you want me to abandon him?” Wander spoke for the first time and Hater was surprised that Wander was even in the room.

“No, buddy, never. I’m just saying that we should leave for a bit. Go help a few planets and give Hater some time to understand his new self with just Peepers and the Watchdogs. We’ll come back in a week or so and maybe he’ll be more receptive.” Sylvia sounded gentler now that she was talking to Wander.

“But what if his memories come back while we’re gone?” Wander asked.

“Then I’m sure he’ll greet you the usual way when we return from our do-gooding.” Hater heard movement behind the door before Sylvia’s voice continued at a much lower tone. “You need a break from this, Wander. It’s hurting you more than it is Hater having you here. You keep expecting things from him that he’s not comfortable with. He might want us to leave for a while so he can work some things out for himself without you here confusing him.”

Wander said something in such a small voice that Hater didn’t catch it and pressed himself fully against the door. Unfortunately, he pressed the button and the door slid open, depositing him on the floor of Peeper’s room with everyone’s eyes on him.

“Hater?” Wander was the first to ask.

“I couldn’t sleep; I never can sleep at night.” Hater admitted as he stood up and brushed himself off. He refused to feel bad about being caught spying since he had been the topic of their secret conversation. “And I don’t want you to leave either.” 

“Then I’ll stay,” Wander smiled. He stood up and hugged Sylvia before walking up to Hater and holding out his hand in offer. “Let’s go see if we can get something to help you sleep.” Hater took Wander’s hand and let him lead him out of Peeper’s room.

Hater stopped moving when Wander tried to head towards the medical bay. “Hater?”

“I don’t want any more medicine. It’s not really helping me, anyways.” Hater grumbled.

“Do you want to watch something to help you sleep? I know some movies that you thought were boring. Those might put you to sleep.” Wander suggested.

“I want you to come to bed with me.” Hater met Wander’s eyes shyly. “I don’t remember how we started dating or when I stopped thinking you were so annoying. Maybe I never really did and it all just blended together like Peepers said. But these past few days I liked having you around. I liked listening to your stories. I liked seeing you smile. I even liked your goodnight kisses.” 

Wander smiled and stepped closer to Hater. “Maybe you just need a few more goodnight kisses to be able to fall asleep?” 

“Maybe,” Hater agreed with a mumble as he and Wander walked hand in hand towards his bedroom.

It was the first night he slept peacefully with his arms wrapped around Wander.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

He woke up to kisses on his arms slowly making their way up to his cheeks. He smiled and opened his eyes. “I like being woken up this way. It’s better than Peepers knocking on my door at least.” Hater grumbled as Wander giggled.

“I’m glad not everything has to change between us.” Wander sat up and stretched sleepily.

Hater sat up as well. He shivered and winced, rubbing at his head. He inhaled shakily and blinked to try and clear his vision. “Wander, I don’t feel so good.” 

His whole body was trembling and starting to grow a bit more violent. He could hear Wander calling his name but he sounded far away and frantic. It reminded Hater of how Wander had sounded when he had pushed him out of the way to take the blow instead. He couldn’t see or hear anything as his body continued to thrash. The world faded into an ugly darkness as memory crashed suddenly into him like an all-encompassing wave against a sandcastle.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When Hater woke up again his mouth tasted like ash. He groaned and squinted his eyes open. He was still in his bedroom at least. His head was pounding and his tongue was thick and useless as he tried to tell Wander to shut up. 

He swallowed and tried again to speak. “Wander, I’m fine, enough.” He grunted and placed a hand over his eyes to shield them from the bright light.

“Oh thank grop!” He felt the bed sink next to him and Wander’s hands on his face. He opened his eyes and smiled as Wander’s worried face came into view. “You had a seizure, Hater! Your body just started shaking and you went unconscious. Luckily you were already on the bed and Peepers was already on his way to wake us up. But I was so scared! You--”

Hater pulled Wander into a quick kiss and offered a slight smile when Wander pulled back. “It takes more than a seizure to get rid of the Greatest Fiancé in the Galaxy.” Hater stubbornly sat up despite Wander’s hands trying to keep him pushed down and Peeper’s worried noises.

“You remember?” Wander’s voice had a slight tremor to it.

“I remember everything except for our wedding date. We were thinking of having it in a few months, right?” Hater smirked.

Wander laughed loud and beautifully as a wide smile bloomed across his face. Wander’s hands were shaking against Hater’s chest. “Alright, you’ve finally convinced me, we’ll get married in a few months.”

“You two heard him. You’re my witnesses.” Hater pointed at Sylvia and Peepers even as he dragged Wander against his chest with his free hand. “Peepers, Operation Wedding is a go. I want the galaxy’s top ten wedding planners here by tomorrow. Sylvia, I need you to create nine different tasks for them to go through in order for the best to win the right to plan our wedding. We will have the best wedding ever.”

“But wouldn’t the wedding be even better if the ten wedding planners worked together to plan our wedding?” Wander suggested.

“If there isn’t a competition then we might get stuck with horrible planners. I’m not willing to take that risk. We’ll invite ten and then weed out the worst five. Are you two taking notes?” Hater asked Peepers and Sylvia.

“Yeah, yeah, we hear ya, Bonehead. We’ll go and get started right away.” Sylvia grabbed Peepers’ hand and walked out of the room. 

“It’s good to have you back, sir!” Peepers replied happily as he closed the door.

“I missed you.” Wander sighed against Hater. 

“I never really left.” The relief radiating from Wander was almost thick enough to fill the room. “I just forgot for a little bit. It wasn’t too terrible, was it? I mean, I never tried to attack you, at least.”

“Yeah, it could’ve been a lot worst. It was almost like I was watching you fall in love with me all over again.” Wander smiled as Hater leaned in for a deep kiss. Hater held Wander securely as he took his time remapping Wander’s mouth. 

Wander broke away to smile at Hater. “Hey, Hater, when did you start falling in love with me?” 

“Honestly,” Hater ran his hand down Wander’s back, “I think it might have started when you handed me a trophy.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr if you want to come say hi! http://aloneindarknes7.tumblr.com/


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